New Orleans and U.S. Conference of
Mayors Advisory Board Chair Mayor Marc H. Morial appeared on the Tom Joyner
Morning Show, a syndicated radio show heard in over 100 radio stations in the
United States. Promoting the first Mardi Gras Celebration of the 21st
century, Mayor Morial said, “This event is a multi-cultural celebration of
people, full of rich traditions.” Over one million people will visit New
Orleans to participate in the Millennium Mardi Gras.

Two California Mayors – Christina
Shea of Irvine and Miguel Pulido of Santa Ana – were hosts February 13 to 16
to over 450 mayors and business leaders in the first Summit of Mayors Conference
on international trade in both cities.

The conference focused on developing
new partnerships between cities and key business leaders from California and
Mexico. California’s exports to Mexico accounted for more than $13 billion in
1998.

On separate side trips, several
Summit attendees from Mexico visited cities across California including San
Jose, Oakland, Fresno and Long Beach.

Baltimore’s new mayor, Martin
O’Malley, no stranger to the nation’s capital, was the subject of a lengthy
profile in the February 28th business section of The Washington Post. The
article detailed the many problems and expectations that surround the mayor, a
former city councilman. O’Malley, 37, lets off steam The Post reports, by
playing in his Celtic rock bank, O’Malley’s March, clad in black T-shirt and
Levi’s.

Key among challenges facing the new
mayor are expanding Baltimore’s job base and halting the flight of middle
class families.

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino
attended a March 2 meeting of The Aspen Institute in San Jose, California, on
the issue of bridging the “digital divide.”

Mayor Menino was the only mayor at
the meeting held to highlight now corporate America can work with government to
improve access to technology. Mayor Menino’s partnership with 3COM, a
technology company, is a national model.